Proactive Transparency
This paper identifies four primary drivers of proactive disclosure throughout history. The first is the need to inform the public about laws and decisions and the public's right to be informed, to know their rights and obligations. The second is the public's demand for the information needed to hold governments accountable both at and between elections. The third is the demand for information in order to participate actively in decision-making. The fourth is the provision to the public of information needed to access government services, which has expanded significantly in the past decade with growth of electronic access to services or 'e-government.' This paper attempts to advance the debate around that question by analyzing the multiple proactive disclosure provisions in national law and international treaties in order to identify the emerging global consensus on the classes of information which should be included in a proactive disclosure regime. The paper examines the practical challenges related to the implementation of proactive disclosure regimes and some of the lessons learned from which principles for making proactive disclosure work in practice can be derived. It concludes by identifying some future challenges and areas where additional research is needed.
Summary: | This paper identifies four primary
drivers of proactive disclosure throughout history. The
first is the need to inform the public about laws and
decisions and the public's right to be informed, to
know their rights and obligations. The second is the
public's demand for the information needed to hold
governments accountable both at and between elections. The
third is the demand for information in order to participate
actively in decision-making. The fourth is the provision to
the public of information needed to access government
services, which has expanded significantly in the past
decade with growth of electronic access to services or
'e-government.' This paper attempts to advance the
debate around that question by analyzing the multiple
proactive disclosure provisions in national law and
international treaties in order to identify the emerging
global consensus on the classes of information which should
be included in a proactive disclosure regime. The paper
examines the practical challenges related to the
implementation of proactive disclosure regimes and some of
the lessons learned from which principles for making
proactive disclosure work in practice can be derived. It
concludes by identifying some future challenges and areas
where additional research is needed. |
---|